“That depends,” I said. “How is Steven involved?”
Theresa’s green eyes bored into me, her arms crossed stubbornly over her sweatshirt. “He’s not involved. I rented the storage unit without him.”
“Are you telling me he had no idea what you were keeping in there?”
“Bree gets all the monthly statements. I doubt he even looks at them.”
“He fired Bree last month.”
Theresa’s thin lips parted with surprise. “Does Steven know about the storage unit?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out. Who is he?” I asked, pointing to the bags.
Her jaw rocked back and forth through her hesitant pause. “He was one of Steven’s silent partners in the farm.”
I blinked at her. “Steven never mentioned any business partners.”
“That’s why they’re called silent. How do you think he bought all that land? With his mountains of cash? Or maybe his stellar credit?” she asked scornfully. “Why would he finance the farm through a bank, knowing full well he was going to divorce you? He’d have to be an idiot to give you that kind of legal claim to it.”
“Wait…” I held up a hand, certain I’d misunderstood. “Are you telling me he bought the farm before the divorce?”
“Someone give the lady a prize,” Theresa cooed. “Finlay finally gets it.”
I wanted to smack the haughty smirk from her face, but she was right about one thing. I did finally get it. It didn’t matter that Mrs. Haggerty caught them screwing in my house. Steven had been plotting to leave me anyway, and Theresa knew it.
Theresa shrugged, her expression cool. “Steven hired me to find him a silent partner. Someone willing to put down the cash for the farm and transfer the deed to his name after the divorce was settled. I found him two.”
“I thought you were his partner. That it was your money that helped pay for the farm.” Theresa’s lips pursed. I tilted my head as all the clues came together. “He didn’t want to partner with you, did he?” I asked, certain I was right when she averted her eyes. “That’s why he kept stalling the wedding date. That’s why you agreed to take custody of my kids. Because it was the only way you could get him to agree to marry you. So you could stake a claim over his farm.”
“I loved him!” she shot back.
“Which you so clearly demonstrated by boning Feliks Zhirov in the back of his car.”
“Daaaamn,” Vero whispered.
Theresa’s mouth snapped shut.
“What’s his name?” I asked, pointing at the dead guy.
She ground her teeth. “Carl Westover. He and his cousin, Ted, paid for the land. They drafted a private contract with Steven, agreeing to turn the property over to him once he’d earned enough to buy them out. The agreement gave Steven the right to farm the land and run the business as he pleased, as long as the profits were being distributed to the partners in accordance with their contract.”
“Let me guess,” Vero said. “Steven did something to piss them off and the deal went sour.”
“No.” Theresa shot Vero a nasty look. “Everything was going great. The farm was making money. More than any of us had expected. Between Steven’s business plan and my real estate contacts, we were able to secure some of the area’s biggest developers as clients. He was on track to pay off the farm in less than five years.”
“So what happened?” I asked.
Theresa paled. She stared at the packages on the floor, shaking her head. “He’ll kill me if he finds out I told anyone.”
Vero nudged the pile with her foot. “I promise, this guy isn’t doing any talking.”
“Not him, you idiot! Feliks Zhirov!”
My body recoiled at the name. “Feliks did this?”
Theresa nodded.
“But you told the police Feliks had nothing to do with Steven’s business. You told them Steven didn’t know Feliks was using the farm.”
“He didn’t.” Her voice broke. “Because I never told Feliks that Steven had an ownership interest in it. I wanted to keep Steven out of it. So I gave Feliks the name of one of Steven’s partners instead. I figured if one of them consented to letting Feliks use the land, that would be enough. And if they were making money off the deal, why would they refuse?” Theresa drew a shuddering breath. “I took Feliks to see Carl. Carl and Steven weren’t as close; they hardly even talked. Carl and his wife had recently split up, and Carl had a lot of medical bills. I knew he was struggling financially. I thought he’d be more likely to take the money and less likely to tell the others, but…”